One of the biggest and most noticeable booths at this year's E3 had to have been the THQ booth. THQ definitely had plenty of games to show off, including the just-announced Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine.

The first title we saw was MX vs. ATV: Reflex. We were able to drive around on an ATV in a new free play mode that allows you to roam one of the game's many environments. The one we were playing on was a snowy mountain. A THQ representative was on-hand to help guide us through the game's new driving mechanics, which allow you to shift your weight to impact the actual MX and ATV physics. We also got to test drive the new, simpler trick system as well, which replaces complex button mashes with simple directional inputs.

Once we were done getting our drive on, we were whisked away to a private theater for a showing of some new footage for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine. This title was just announced right before E3, and it looks to bring the real-time strategy elements of the blockbuster 40K series on PC to consoles sometime in the coming years. Although no release date was given, the footage we saw was all from an early build of the game, and it showed space marine's fiercely fighting of hordes of orcs as well as other creatures that we're not exactly supposed to talk about just yet.

When the Space Marine presentation ended, we were then briskly walked into another private theater for a gameplay demo of the upcoming shooter Homefront. This shooter is very unique as it is the first one to actually take place in America. The setting is twenty years in the future, and North Korea has invaded the North American continent, and it seems the American side is not doing a very good job of defending the home front. Survivor outposts punctuate the land, and citizens live off of solar panels and agriculture wherever they can find a place that is rural enough to stay hidden from the North Koreans. The story really is the selling point of this new IP, and this could be because it is penned by the principal writer of war movie classic, Apocalypse Now. The gameplay isn't too shabby either, featuring an open-world system that pushes events, explosions, and combat towards the player.

The final game we were able to see and get some hands-on time with at THQ's booth was the highly anticipated Darksiders. We were filled in on some of the broader points of the story first, and we were given a quick refresher as to the format of the game. We were then able to take the reins and control the main character, War, and do some hack n' slash damage of our own. We were also able to test drive War's horse, Ruin, and experience how the game would handle it's equine combat component.

In addition to these hardcore games, THQ's booth has plenty of other family-friendly games to show off as well including those based on Nickelodeon's Spongebob franchise. However, the hardcore targeted games were the focus of our booth tour, and I was most impressed with Darksiders as well as the upcoming Homefront during the booth tour.